Please Help! Need Advice! (potential repair issue)

[Tigerlaw]

I will try to keep this as short as possible!

Bought my Telluride SX in June. From day one, have believed the front seat cooling function hasn't work. Could I feel a difference in the seat? Yes, but by no means were the seats ever "cool". The heated seat function seems to work fine. I posted a thread on the forum asking about how they work for you guys and it seemed like they actually were supposed to really cool down the seats.

Anyway, ended up taking the car into the dealer where I bought for repair. Get it back and they say nothing is wrong with it. Say the fan is working and it also depends on what temp I have the A/C on. (Which I have had at 68 since purchase) To me, having to blast the A/C on LO kinda defeats the purpose of a cooling seat. I asked the service lady to let me see how it works in a different Telluride. They had one open so I turned it on and felt it working basically the same as mine. Service lady acts like it working fine. To me, what I feel would be not even worthy on the lowest of the three settings, let alone the highest setting. So based on what service lady has said, I start my car, blast the A/C to LO, but close all the vents and let it run for 10 minutes to see what I get. Once again, there is a difference in how the seat feels, but not "cold" in any way. Bring the lady over, and she says this is how it is supposed to work. Still my view that is wrong and I am not getting a feature I paid for.

Am I crazy here? What are my options? Can I take it to a different dealer for review? Would that still be a covered warranty review/repair?

Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[SinNYC]

Ventilated seats aren't refrigerated - they don't have cooling elements in them like the heating system does for the heated functionality. The system just pushes cabin air through the perforations.

 

[SLPV]

My seats work very well without using the AC. Even at low setting, I can feel the difference in a couple of minutes.

 

[ksyrah]

Agree with the above two comments.....

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[Amati5]

Mine feels cool a few seconds after I start the car. And I set my ac at 77.

 

[arattle]

If it feels like you got wet butt after 5 minutes, they're working. Since it's only the cushion, you won't feel much relief up your back, either. Basically just helps to avoid scorching you after the leather sits in hot sun for a few hours.

 

[SLPV]

Mine cools seat and back.

 

[beato1]

Same here! Both ventilated seats work fine! AC set at 68-74.

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[Katy_Tell]

I will try to keep this as short as possible!

Bought my Telluride SX in June. From day one, have believed the front seat cooling function hasn't work. Could I feel a difference in the seat? Yes, but by no means were the seats ever "cool". The heated seat function seems to work fine. I posted a thread on the forum asking about how they work for you guys and it seemed like they actually were supposed to really cool down the seats.

Anyway, ended up taking the car into the dealer where I bought for repair. Get it back and they say nothing is wrong with it. Say the fan is working and it also depends on what temp I have the A/C on. (Which I have had at 68 since purchase) To me, having to blast the A/C on LO kinda defeats the purpose of a cooling seat. I asked the service lady to let me see how it works in a different Telluride. They had one open so I turned it on and felt it working basically the same as mine. Service lady acts like it working fine. To me, what I feel would be not even worthy on the lowest of the three settings, let alone the highest setting. So based on what service lady has said, I start my car, blast the A/C to LO, but close all the vents and let it run for 10 minutes to see what I get. Once again, there is a difference in how the seat feels, but not "cold" in any way. Bring the lady over, and she says this is how it is supposed to work. Still my view that is wrong and I am not getting a feature I paid for.

Am I crazy here? What are my options? Can I take it to a different dealer for review? Would that still be a covered warranty review/repair?

Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for the help!

I have a suggestion.
Try the following:

1. Get into your Telly (on the driver side).

2. Do not start the vehicle (don’t put your foot on the brake), but, press the start/stop button, twice. This should put the vehicle in the on mode. (You will know, because the check engine symbol will come on.).

3. Turn off your radio, A/C and anything else that makes noise.

4. Turn the seat ventilation onto high (3 blue bars).

5. Wait a couple seconds, then listen for a fan sound coming under your seat. If you hear it, then it means your seat vent is working.

6. Finally, to confirm, with the car still on, get out of the vehicle and put your hand over the seat by an inch or two, and move it across the width of the seat. If you can feel a subtle airflow across your fingers coming from sections on your seat, then it is working. You won’t feel the airflow coming from the entire seat, just from sections of it.

 

[TheNip73]

I think the perceived performance has a lot to do with the humidity.

My seats feel worthless if it is just hot. If I am sweaty or it is humid, they feel like the work great.

 

[Tigerlaw]

I have a suggestion.
Try the following:

1. Get into your Telly (on the driver side).

2. Do not start the vehicle (don’t put your foot on the brake), but, press the start/stop button, twice. This should put the vehicle in the on mode. (You will know, because the check engine symbol will come on.).

3. Turn off your radio, A/C and anything else that makes noise.

4. Turn the seat ventilation onto high (3 blue bars).

5. Wait a couple seconds, then listen for a fan sound coming under your seat. If you hear it, then it means your seat vent is working.

6. Finally, to confirm, with the car still on, get out of the vehicle and put your hand over the seat by an inch or two, and move it across the width of the seat. If you can feel a subtle airflow across your fingers coming from sections on your seat, then it is working. You won’t feel the airflow coming from the entire seat, just from sections of it.

Thanks for the suggestions. I hear the fan, but feel no air coming out. I put a Kleenex on the seat and it just laid there. Weird right?

I know it should be working better than it does. Just don't know how to proceed when the dealer tells me its working properly.

Has anyone else had this happen to them when you question qhwther a repair you came in for actually took place?

 

[ewren1]

Thanks for the suggestions. I hear the fan, but feel no air coming out. I put a Kleenex on the seat and it just laid there. Weird right?

I know it should be working better than it does. Just don't know how to proceed when the dealer tells me its working properly.

Has anyone else had this happen to them when you question qhwther a repair you came in for actually took place?

Maybe try the Kleenex test at the dealership with a Telluride on the lot?

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[Katy_Tell]

Thanks for the suggestions. I hear the fan, but feel no air coming out. I put a Kleenex on the seat and it just laid there. Weird right?

I know it should be working better than it does. Just don't know how to proceed when the dealer tells me its working properly.

Has anyone else had this happen to them when you question qhwther a repair you came in for actually took place?

Ok. Well. We know the fan is working. Try one more thing. Start your T, turn the A/C on the coldest setting,, and turn the A/C fan onto high. Then do the hand and Kleenex test again. Use your hand (again at 1-2 inches above the entire width of the seat) to test if there is a cool feel to the air from portions of the seat. Next, do the Kleenex test to see if it moves. When I tested mine, the air was not coming from the center of the seat cushion. However, the air was coming up from the seat about a third of the distance from the center on both the door side, and center console side.

If you are still feeling nothing from this test, it could be the fan is not positioned properly.

So, the next thing to do is what ewren1 suggested. Take it to the dealer and and do the Kleenex test for a service advisor.

 

[Katy_Tell]

Follow up. I did the Kleenex test. I followed the instructions from my last post. First off. Set your a/c fan on high and therm to 65 degrees. Make sure your a/c vents are facing AWAY from the seat.

Next, I placed my hand to where I was barely skimming the seat cushion. As I moved my hand across the cushion, I felt a very, very, subtle layer of cool air coming up.

After that, I took a sheet of Kleenex, and placed it on the seat cushion, near the front. I then started to toggle the seat vent switch speed from 3-1 bars and kept toggling. As I was toggling, I did not take my eye off the Kleenex. I had placed the sheet near the front of the seat. As I continued to toggle the switch, the Kleenex started sliding from the front of the cushion to the back. I repeated this procedure several times. The Kleenex slid from front to back every time. So, it is a very slight airflow. Almost not discernible. Try that and see if you can repeat it.

 

[cowski]

I just finished a 6000KM trip, seats heating and cooling were outstanding. The hot/cold treatment on my back really carried me the distance with little soreness.

 

[Amati5]

I just finished a 6000KM trip, seats heating and cooling were outstanding. The hot/cold treatment on my back really carried me the distance with little soreness.

Nice! Never thought of that, lol…

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[beato1]

The heating function of the seat has actual heating element? As opposed to cooling which is ventilated only. Thanks.

 

[Tigerlaw]

Tried the toggle test and still no kleenex movement. I wondered if maybe i had an issue just w. The three lights power level so i tried it w just twl power lights and still no luck.

 

[ceenote]

Man i dont even have my ac on and i get in turn the truck on and instantly it goes to chill mode..sorry yours is acting funky...if you dont feel like things are correct try another dealership...

 

[Katy_Tell]

Tried the toggle test and still no kleenex movement. I wondered if maybe i had an issue just w. The three lights power level so i tried it w just twl power lights and still no luck.

Since you can hear the fan operating, it could very well be it is not aligned properly. You should take it in and do the Kleenex test for them. If you can’t get anyone to take a serious look at it, you might try a shop that does auto upholstery. They may be able to see the problem. I am not sure if Kia would honor a 3rd party warranty claim, but, you just want it fixed. Right?